Hello,

I, too, love the song Claudy Banks. Not least because when I was working it out, (more years ago than I care to remember and when I was still living at home), Mum wandered into the room and said, "I know that song!" I said, "Mum, you can't possibly!" She said, "Yes, my uncle used to sing it!"

To me, the thought behind the song is timeless and is true for every generation. (But I hear his platoon got wasted all in Afghanistan...)

Today we are so used to the photo, text message, e-mail, postal system etc. that we forget that people only had their memory to aid them in 'the good old days'. (Try remembering what your infant teacher looked like!) No wonder that some people were not recognised when they came back! Clearly the song has been truncated over time so we don't know some of the salient details, but it still goes down very well with audiences unfamiliar with it.

Best wishes,

Peter